UI Professor: Financial Accountability Must Be Measured by Societal Impact
When audit opinions merely serve as symbols of success, we risk falling into symbolic accountability—reports look good but lack real impact.
Professor Dyah Setyaningrum, a Public Sector Accounting expert from the University of Indonesia’s Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), emphasised that national financial accountability should not be measured solely by administrative compliance but by the tangible impact of public policies on society.
“Government auditing must transform towards an impact-based approach to strengthen public governance in Indonesia,” she said at UI’s Depok campus on Monday.
She noted that national achievements over the past five years show significant progress, with unqualified audit opinions (WTP) reaching 97% for ministries and agencies and 91% for local governments. However, high administrative compliance has not fully translated into improved public service quality or public trust.
“Relying solely on audit opinions as symbols of success risks symbolic accountability, where reports appear positive but lack tangible impact,” Dyah stated.
She identified three key challenges in transforming government auditing: bridging the gap between compliance and impact, strengthening stakeholder engagement without compromising auditor independence, and aligning national audit practices with global standards.
Dyah explained that performance audits have evolved from mere oversight tools into strategic instruments for assessing policy outcomes and impacts. Using the Agency–Accountability–Theory of Change–Public Value framework, performance audits examine the links between inputs, processes, and outcomes to enable comprehensive policy evaluation.
She highlighted the importance of open and collaborative audit approaches, where public, media, and stakeholder involvement enriches analysis and strengthens audit recommendation follow-ups. Effective auditor communication is crucial to ensure findings drive real policy changes rather than remaining administrative formalities.
Although Indonesia has a strong foundation through National Financial Audit Standards (SPKN), Dyah said performance audits need to expand towards impact measurement. She cited international practices like impact audits and follow-up audits in Canada and the UK, which ensure audit recommendations lead to measurable policy changes and public benefits.
Integrating sustainability and climate risk aspects, such as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, is also critical for future government auditing development.
Dyah recommended strategic steps, including strengthening performance audits as a pillar of national accountability, developing impact-based audit methodologies, institutionalising targeted stakeholder engagement, adopting global best practices, and ensuring audit follow-ups focus on tangible outcomes rather than administrative compliance.
“Public accountability must transcend compliance to create public value. Performance audits are the bridge from compliance-focused to impact-driven auditing,” Professor Dyah said.